I am always content with what happens; for I know that what God chooses is better than what I choose.

It is the part of an uneducated person to blame others where he himself fares ill; to blame himself is the part of one whose education has begun; to blame neither another nor his own self is the part of one whose education is already complete.

You will do the greatest service to the state if you shall raise, not the roofs of the houses, but the souls of the citizens: for it is better that great souls should dwell in small houses rather than for mean slaves to lurk in great houses.

In prosperity it is very easy to find a friend; but in adversity it is the most difficult of all things.

Preach not to others what they should eat, but eat as becomes you and be silent.

Shall I show you the sinews of a philosopher? What sinews are those? - A will undisappointed; evils avoided; powers daily exercised; careful resolutions; unerring decisions.

It is unlikely that the good of a snail should reside in its shell: so is it likely that the good of a man should?